March 31, 2010

Today I have a little encouragement card to share with you, as well as a picture of my Copic storage solution. Wendy had sent me an e-mail asking about this the other day, so, Wendy, the marker storage pictures are for you! First, the card: I chose the toaster and toast images from the Hero Arts What's Perking stamp set (CL416) and colored it with the Copic markers shown below. (Click on the image to see it larger.)

The Toner Grays were what I used for the toaster, the Cool Grays for the shadow, the E50's for the toast, the Reds for the toaster handle, and the unlabeled marker (YR31 + Colorless Blender) and BG000 for the background. I then cut and embossed the image with a Spellbinders Plain circle Nestability and matted it with a Petite Scalloped Circle Nestability. The lower mat edge is cut with a Deckled Scalloped Edge die.

Now, for the marker storage. I call these my marker condos, for obvious reasons. The one on the right is older than the one of the left, and I like the newer one the very best. The older model held eight markers per cubicle, whereas the newer model (the one for sale now, but I'm not sure who has them in stock yet) hold four markers per cubicle. Since I like to keep all of my markers in numerical order, I prefer having to arrange only four markers when I am putting markers away rather than having to arrange all eight every time.

Here's a close-up of the newer model (CSVDISP: Copic Sketch, Various Ink Display) with four Sketch markers per cubicle. (It holds 288 Sketch markers total if you fill in every slot.) I start the markers in the upper left corner, exactly where a Copic color chart starts, and I move right down the column. Even if I have some empty boxes, I start a new color at the top of a cubicle. I can find them faster that way. The markers are stored at a slight angle so that they don't want to tip out of the slot. Let me mention again that Copic markers can be stored either horizontally or vertically. Because they are airtight when the cap is snapped on, you do not have to store then on their sides; I just like this way best personally. See that little notebook at the right side of the marker condo? That's the color blends notebook that I posted on my blog a couple of weeks ago.

I hope that helps those of you who have asked about marker storage. Have a great day!

March 30, 2010

Today I have a floral thank you note for you; I'm almost caught up on the post-CHA notes that I need to get out now--whew! Geraniums remind me out my grandmother. I love the red ones, salmon ones, fuchsia ones--you name it--I love it!

My geranium, from JustRite's Beautiful Blossoms Borders and Centers set, is a traditional red one. I cut the oval by hand because I wanted it cut very close to the border of the frame, but the shimmer gold cardstock mat is cut with a Spellbinders Labels 11 die, and the little tag is cut with a Double Ended Tags Trio die. (That is what I usually use when I need a small tag, the smallest Double-Ended Tags die cut, trimmed to the right length after I see how long my sentiment is, and then I round the cut corners with a small pair of scissors.) The sentiment on the tag is from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages set.

These are the Copic markers that I used to color the geranium. I airbrushed the Y23 marker into the background to add a warm glow around the geraniums. Finally I added some yellow Stickles to the flower centers as well.

March 29, 2010

How about a birthday card today? I had fun coloring this image, though I think I didn't help it any at the end when I wrote out "Happy Birthday" on the chalkboard. I considered Photoshopping it out, but I left it. Don't laugh--it's tricky to print in colored pencil! (My white gel pen was not cooperating--ever have those days?)

First I colored the skin tones and the blackboard, though it might have been wise to color the girl's sweater first since I added texture with the clear blender--more about that later. I love YG63 and YG67--great colors for a chalkboard!

Here is the sweater with some R02 and R05, and pleated skirt with BG72 and BG75.

Now, since I wanted texture and hadn't had enough forethought to color the clothing first, I masked it with a piece of Eclipse tape. before wetting a wide piece of twill tape with Colorless blender and touching it to the dry clothing. (If the marker is still wet, the texture won't be as crisp.)

Here you see that I've colored her shoes and the wood on the easel chalkboard.

And here I colored her hair a reddish brown. I think I should have used my colorless blender here to add more highlights. It doesn't have enough contrast. (I've already mailed it, or I would change that little detail!)

I used my custom marker filled with half colorless blender and half YR31 to add a warm glow around the image. I also added a soft shadow to ground my image.

A bit of stitching and some cutting with a Spellbinders Big Scalloped edge die, combined with some distress ink and some Jack's World ribbon and a Papertrey Ink New Leaf button, and that's it--one birthday card down! Thanks for stopping by.

I combined a bit of stamping with a bit of paper-piecing for a fairly simple card that's sure to cheer up a gloomy day. Grosgrain ribbon is Papertrey's Aqua Mist. Boots are stamped in Pure Poppy, and rain and clouds in Aqua Mist (the new formula). I used a Copic YR31 to color that little handle part on the boot.

March 25, 2010

Good morning, and welcome to one stop along the way in Day Three of the JustRite Mega March Blog Hop, with eighty-eight designers playing along--wow!

I chose an image from the 3-1/4" My Garden Borders and Centers set, paired with a 3-1/4" round wood stamper. I've used the morning glory image for a couple of cards before, but I made blue or purple morning glories in those. Today I wanted to play with a pink morning glory and some new pink patterned papers from Prima's new Flights of Fancy Collection (Tiptoe and Miss Pretty).

I colored the focal image with the Copic Markers and Spica Glitter pens pictured below. (Click on any image to see it larger.)

After coloring my image, I stamped it a second time in ColorBox Rouge ink and used two Spellbinders Plain Circle Nestability dies to cut, emboss, and mask the edges while I airbrushed some Copic R22 (not in picture) and YG63 lightly on the sentiment. I matted my double-layered focal image using a Labels 1 die. The pink silk ribbon is by May Arts and the buttons are from Papertrey Ink (Sweet Blush and New Leaf). The rhinestone in the center of the larger morning glory is an A Muse twinkle Sticker.

Now, for the blog candy part of this hop: there are 33 participants in the Day Three leg of the JustRite Mega March Blog Hop. For a chance to win one of five shopping sprees valued at a total of $600 on each day of the blog hop, leave a comment at any or all blogs listed below. (Obviously, your statistical chances improve the more blogs you comment on.) JustRite will randomly select five mystery blogs each day of the hop and randomly allocate each of the shopping sprees. Beginning Friday, March 26, summaries of the winners will be posted on the JustRite blog, so be sure to check there to see if you are a winner. Good luck to everyone, and enjoy all the JustRite eye candy along the hop!

Ribbon is Spring Rain, and Vintage Button is Aqua Mist. The mat layer is Hawaiian Shores--a perfect color to accent Aqua Mist! I had several options for decorating that Aqua Mist background, but I decided that it looked best plain since there was enough busy-ness going on already with the flower background.

Do you like Heather's color combination as much as I do? I know that I'll play with this one again. Thanks for stopping by!

March 22, 2010

Did you have a good weekend? We spent some time outside Saturday soaking up that good Vitamin D from the sun! Then Benjamin and I went shopping for a Matchbox car that he'd been hinting about for ever-so-long; that didn't leave a lot of time for card-making, but it made for a good family weekend anyway.

I've had this thank you card started for quite a while, but when I saw the Caardvarks Lacy Days challenge, I knew I could easily finish it up with some lace and play along. I started with the JustRite Joyful Hearts Borders and Centers set, along with the small oval wooden stamper. I stamped the image twice so that I could have a two-layered focal image. Then I used a Spellbinders Classic Oval die to cut the outer border of both images, and the inner border of the frame part of the top image. It looked a little too creamy at this point, so I pulled out my Copic Airbrush System and a YG63 marker to airbrush the inner circle before attaching the top layer with foam tape.

I chose papers from a K&Company Madeline pad for my background and used a Spellbinders Big Scalloped Petites Border Die to cut the two layers of patterned paper as well as the cream card base. The lace is some that I found in a ribbon drawer here; I think it may be a Prima cotton lace. Ribbon is Creative Impressions silk ribbon, and the Raspberry Velvet Zig Zag ribbon is from Sharon Johnson' Stamp Simply store.

March 19, 2010

This week's CPS 158 sketch had me heading in a simple direction. Since the sketch had a strip across the bottom ending in a tag shape, I knew that I wanted to use a sentiment for my tag. After I had chosen my sentiment from Papertrey's Vintage Picnic Sentiments set, I wanted some comforting, home-y paper to serve as my background.

I used a Spellbinders Nested Blossom die to mat the focal image, and a Big Scalloped Petites Border Die to cut the bottom of the green layer and its mat. I've had questions about coloring white flowers a couple of times, so I thought I'd show you rather than tell you by taking a few pictures as I colored this image.

Here I have used R21 and R22 to color the pink roses, as well as some BG0000 and BG01 to color the water in the base of the vase. (I forgot to put the BG's in this picture, so they are in the next one.)

I colored the polka dot band with YR31, shading it darker on the edges with Y17. I used the same yellows on the centers of the daisies as well.

For the greenery I used YG91 and YG93, and on the stems I used the Mint and Melon Spica Glitter pens. I also used the YG91 green in the spaces between leaves and blossoms. If I had left the spaces white, the bouquet would appear really thin.

Here I used the R21 again to color in the polka dots on the band. I used the W00 and W1 to create a shadow at the base of the vase, softening it on the edges with the 0, while I used the C0, C1, and C2 to add just a bit of shading to the white daisies. Most of each daisy was left white; I shaded only where petals went behind other petals. (I could have just as easily used the cool grays for the shadow of the vase too; but since I was using a warm glow around the flowers, as well as a warm blue-green in the vase, the warm grays seemed to fit a bit better. Again though, either would have been fine.

Now here's the trick of the white flowers: the white daisies are the same whiteness on the left and on the right, so what makes them look whiter on the left than on the right? The pale yellow glow around the outside defines the whites. (By the way, that yellow is a custom mix--YR31 ink cut half and half with Colorless Blender and added to an empty marker.)

I didn't leave it half yellow and half white; I just wanted you to see the before and after difference that the soft glow gives. Besides the custom half YR31/half Colorless blender, my other favorite "soft glow" color is BG0000. These two colors enhance almost anything! Well, that's it--my little trick for making white flowers, without really coloring them very much. Hope that helps!

I added some Lime Green Stickles to her four-leaf clover to made it stand out. The tag is cut with a Spellbinders Double-Ended Tags die, then trimmed to the right length. Ribbon is Papertrey Ink's New Leaf grosgrain. On the girl's top, I soaked a scrap of sock with Copic Colorless Blender and added texture with the sock--obviously before I colored the skin since I didn't want her skin to be splotchy.

March 16, 2010

It's a beautiful Spring day here, with very few lonely patches on snow left on the ground. I'm still on my Spring cards kick. One thing that I associate with Spring from childhood is the blooming of the dogwood trees. Although we can't grow dogwoods in our part of Michigan, I will always love them.

Last week I needed a thank you note that was elegant but not too frilly. When I found some dogwood paper in a K&Company Tim Coffey Designer Mat pad, I remembered having this little dogwood image in the JustRite Beautiful Blossoms Borders and Centers Oval--a perfect match!

I colored the image with the Copic markers shown below and cut out the oval by hand. Next I stamped a second dogwood blossom and layered it on top of the first one with foam tape.

Cardstock is PaperTrey Ink Kraft cardstock, and ribbon is PTI's Ripe Avocado Saddle-Stitched Grosgrain. That's it for today--thanks for visiting!

My Art Journal Blog

FTC Disclosure Statement

In the spirit of full disclosure, I currently work as a freelance designer in some capacity for the following companies: Imagination International, Inc. (Copic Markers), My Favorite Things Stamps, and Power Poppy Stamps. While I am compensated by these companies, either monetarily or in product, I maintain the freedom as an independent designer to say what I truly think of the products that I use. I will not recommend something that I don't personally use and enjoy.